Conventional riding lawn mowers often utilize a rotating cutting blade mounted on a cutting deck member to effect the cutting of vegetation. The cutting deck member is typically composed of a blade mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and carried in a housing. The housing includes a deck above the blade and skirts projecting downwardly from the deck to contain the cut material within the housing. The position of the cutting deck member with respect to the running surface helps determine the height of the blade with respect to the ground's surface. Consequently, in order to vary the height of the blade, a means of adjusting the cutting deck member is needed.
Various methods and mechanisms have been utilized to adjust the cutting deck member height. Basic adjustment mechanisms provide for manual adjustment of the cutting deck member and often the use of wrenches and other tools is required. Another means to vary the height of a cutting deck member is the pin-and-receiving-hole mechanism. In such pin-and-receiving-hole mechanisms, the mower cutting deck is suspended at a desired height on a support bracket by means of an adjustment arm and pull pin. Deck height is adjusted by withdrawing a pull pin from an adjustment hole in the bracket that corresponds to a particular height setting. The mower cutting deck is then moved to a desired height setting and the pull pin is inserted into a different adjustment hole that corresponds as closely as possible to the newly desired height setting.
Numerous disadvantages stem from the mower deck height mechanisms mentioned above. One important disadvantage is that the user is limited in his ability to adjust the mower cutting deck height beyond the pre-determined hole spacing established by the mower manufacturer. Fine adjustments of the deck height may not be readily made. This presents a problem in establishing a uniform grass height over large lawns having uneven surfaces or on lawns cut over several hours or days. Consequently a quick, convenient way to make fine adjustments to mower deck height is needed. The present invention addresses this problem.